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I agree with Edy, Don. Do you know a good illustrator? Your descriptions are vivid and could be easily illustrated by the right person.

I always wanted to write a children's book about trees, with the setting on the edge of a deep forest, givinga variety of trees names and personalities. I would even have an older, respected member of the tree village die and shortly after, a new sprig would take root, introducing a baby tree which everyone protected and loved. There would be no human involvement, just a variety of incidents occuring to highlight the personalities of the different trees, the most exciting, of course, being the forest fire which killed several trees and scarred others. I used to dream up names for the trees, and dialoges which were funny, with a Barney Fife tree or a Chester Goode in the mix but also a bully, a romeo, a flirty, feminine pink dogwood girl tree, a teacher, preacher, just a great assortment of tree/people. With my nutty imagination, the book would end up being 400 pages long and no agent would come near it. Maybe there's already a book like this somewhere in print or maybe someone will get an idea and write one. But it won't be me.

I hope you all have a great weekend. Tim's beautiful new girlfriend is here for several days, giving us a chance to know her better. She's on Tim's facebook page if you want to see her.

I need to send out a bunch of books but am waiting for John to be able to help me. He's been so busy directing school tours he hasn't had a minute to spare. Spring is when most schools hire Holbrook Tours for their class trips. I think there are 140-150 North Carolina schools which are signed up to take trips this year, involving about 15,000 students. There is so much repeat business that John and our son, Johnny, almost don't need to advertise any more.

Gotta wash my hair!

Mariane Holbrook

"Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." Lamentations 3:22-23

I hope you take lots of pictures of the little darling, Verna. From the pictures you posted on Facebook, she's truly a beautiful baby. But it wouldn't matter if she was as ugly as a mud fence, we'd all love our grandbabies and think they should win win every Beautiful Baby Contest in the country.

My grandsons are at the circus this afternoon then Tim will bring them back home this evening. They have been with their mother since Wednesday so I'm homesick to see them. Every day they called Tim and asked, "When can we come home?"

I'm cooking a delicious eye of round roast for dinner so I'll make this short. I love to put it through the meat slicer when it's all done and cold,then freeze individual packs of it for sandwiches (my favorite with horseradish sauce and Romaine lettuce on a sesame roll.

I hope you are all well. I sure miss Carol and Debbie and all the others. I hope they'll drop in at the porch whenever they can.

Mariane Holbrook

"Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." Lamentations 3:22-23

Hey, I'm alive and well just not running any races. LOL. I'm free at last from a week on the heart monitor and, of course, while I was on it nothing happened. Isn't that always the case? My doctor wants to send me to a cardiologist but I think I'll pass. I think he tends to be overly cautious sometimes and the bills can mount up. But I can't tell you how appreciative I am of our current insurance coverage. It really is scary what is in store for us in the future.

Can't help but wonder how Laurie is doing and so glad to hear Allison is on the mend. And also agree with the others, Don, that you should write a book.

I have been doing no writing whatsoever. I guess a true writer wouldn't wait for inspiration. I should at least check out the challenge every week to see if something pops into my head. I seem to be happier when I have a steady flow of inspiration like I used to have.

We've had quite a lot going on in our family and Marty and I will be grandparents again in October. Carissa and her children are hoping for a boy.

I am overwhelmed by God's blessings in our family and so grateful for all of His provision. He has been so good to us.

Now you are pretty much up to date with me. Though I don't post as much I still am here loving and praying for my porch pals.

Mariane, I'm very anxious to hear how Tim's custody hearings go. It must be deeply frustrating for all concerned. My heart goes out to your little munchkins. And you are in my mind and heart. You'll never know how much you have inspired the rest if us.

Verna, enjoy your little one. I'd love to see pictures too.

I miss seeing posts from the others too. Seems like Debby and Carol, like myself, have posted intermittently. I love hearing from everyone.

We've had beautiful days lately, flowers blooming, and I've been trying to get in walks every day.

It's good to see your smiling face again, Dearheart. We miss you and the others when you're not able to drop by but I know you pray for us and our various needs.

Tim had a rather disappointing custody hearing last week. The judge didn't seem interested in Tim's complaints about the way things are going and suggested offhandedly that they go into mediation again. Meanwhile, the boys are so unsettled, so eager to get some continuity in their lives. They like Tim's new girlfriend very much. Shes hoping to get her NC certificate and open her marriage and child custody practice in this area asap.

I think Edy has a birthday on April 24 and Carol celebrates her birthday May 1. Let's make a note to wish them a happy birthday.

Joanney is having surgery this week and needs prayer. If any of you are in touch with her, can you let us know what day, and later, how the surgery went?

Mariane

Last edited by BeachGrandma on Mon Apr 15, 2013 2:52 pm, edited 4 times in total.

Mariane Holbrook

"Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." Lamentations 3:22-23

My surgery is Thursday. I am still working on getting my new place organized enough beforehand. Such a big task. But tonight will be our Family Game Night. I had a commitment on Monday evenings for the last 13 weeks, so we haven't had one for a long time. I really want to fit one in before surgery. Plus the invite of a friend to dinner for Game Night will help motivate me to get some work done this afternoon.

I will be serving venison wrapped in bacon and either grilled or broiled. I am leaning towards grilling, but we will see if the weather holds out. Not sure yet of the choice of potatoes and veggie. For desert I will make a crust-less strawberry custard pie. Our friend is gluten-free, so I will make the custard in a regular baking pan then top it with strawberry pie ingredients.

Well, time to get to work. TTYL.

"We are not sinners because we sin, we sin because we are sinners."

You have wearied the LORD with your words. “How have we wearied him?” you ask. By saying, “All who do evil are good in the eyes of the LORD, and he is pleased with them” or “Where is the God of justice?” Malachi 2:17

My son and his girlfriend were at Britt's Saturday morning, too. He buys them by the dozen but he's so paper thin he could stand to gain about 20 pounds. They donuts are so popular and so good that there's no way you can eat just one. Most people stop after 3 (for about 5 minutes), then see how many more they can pack away!

Good to see you, Dub.

Mariane Holbrook

"Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." Lamentations 3:22-23

Sometimes when I'm at work, I'll sneak reads of the children's books they have. I got partway through one about a barn cat that didn't like to eat mice; he preferred to make friends with them, much to his family's disgust. Another was about a family of penguins who entered a cheer competition, and because one of them was clumsy and a bit slow on the uptake, he inadvertently enabled them to win. Still another was the story of the three trees--you might know this one--about the three trees that dreamed of being a treasure chest, but became the manger that Jesus was laid in after His birth; the one that dreamed of being a mighty ship that carried kings, and became the fishing boat Jesus used as a pulpit; and the one that wanted to stay on the mountain and point people to Heaven, but was cut down like the others and eventually became the cross Jesus was crucified on. And there was one where two leaves on a tree were best friends until one changed color in autumn before the other did, and the still-green one got jealous. They eventually turned red-gold and fell from the tree. But they had fun while on the tree.

But I think a humorous book about birds or trees that have human-like dramas and challenges would be great.

Breaking NEWS this afternoon - explosions at the Boston Marathon, video running on the tv channels.

Meanwhile, I've been reading The Harbinger by Jonathan Cahn. My husband finished it last evening, and I had nearly half of it read before bedtime, and now almost finished with it. If you haven't seen it, you will want to read it. Like a good mystery, with clues reaching back about three thousand years! The history and timing of actual events, in it, is incredible.

Good to see such a full house of old friends on the porch today! I betcha you ran out of sweet tea.

I've been watching that as well, Edy. It's a terrible situation. The casualty reports are growing in number.

In many ways, I believe that, generally speaking, people have shoved the horrific 9/11 event into the back corners of their mind. They have either forgotten or are ignoring the fact that there are individuals and groups out there who are obsessed with doing harm to the American people.

Also, public "situational awareness" is not as it must be for reducing these violent attacks. Our society has become complacent with a business-as-usual attitude again.

Whether it be in movie theaters, marathons, or in schools, why is it that after such an attack we are reactive by beefing-up security and procedures to "prevent it from ever happening again", rather than employing pro-active efforts to reduce the odds before hand.

Of course, any mention that it might be a terrorist attack will not be allowed due to our PC mentality, nor will the religion or nationality of those responsible be made public by the media.

Don

John 14:6Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."

This is just a reminder to all that Joanney's surgery is scheduled for tomorrow.

Let's keep Joanney and her boys lifted up before the Lord that they might have the peace, comfort, and assurance that is only possible through Him. Also pray for a quick and pain-free recovery for her.

Don

John 14:6Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."

If you stop by the porch, today, Joanney, I have to tell you what encouraged me more than anything when I faced a biopsy in my twenties. My supervisor from work had left a small vase with a flower in it on the bedside table when I signed in to my hospital room. Along with it she included a note: